


What's My Line

by cookietosser



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Dubious Consent, Group Sex, M/M, Multi, Overstimulation, Polythieves (Persona 5), Unhealthy Relationships, Vampire Bites, Vampire Sex, Vampire Turning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 10:42:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21160358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookietosser/pseuds/cookietosser
Summary: He was ambushed, Goro remembers. He had expected only one, which was a colossal mistake. He can handle one, maybe two on a good day, but there are more than five around him now, and he didn’t stand a chance.





	What's My Line

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween! I started this over a year ago and it became a plot monster dfgjhfsk there's still more I'd like to write but I wanted to get this out at least before Halloween!
> 
> I listened to the silent hill 3 ost on repeat writing this

The hissing is the first thing that registers to him when he stirs. Animalistic, demonic, the sounds grow louder as he comes to, head swimming and neck rolling. He blinks, bleary, and doesn’t find much to see. Wherever he is, it’s dark and muggy, a wet smell permeating. There’s candles flickering, emitting a low, hauntingly orange light. It’s enough to make out shapes, but not enough to give details to the bodies surrounding him.

He was ambushed, Goro remembers. He had expected only one, which was a colossal mistake. He can handle one, maybe two on a good day, but there are more than five around him now, and he didn’t stand a chance.

Something drips on his leg and he spasms. He should sit up, crawl away or try to defend himself, but his limbs feel heavy, like an enormous amount of pressure is pushing him down. A talon-like hand grabs at his leg and pulls, nails digging and breaking the skin. At the first whiff of blood, the creatures around him inhale deep, like a chorus ready to begin performing. More hands lay upon him, too many to count, and Goro’s heart sinks as his skin prickles in horripilation and he realizes that he’s been laid bare, completely exposed as the day he was born. Helpless prey to the hunters, a lamb waiting to die in the lion’s den.

They hold him still, turning their sharp yellow gazes behind him and his head rolls back trying to follow them. The top of his head hits something solid, something moving in and out like it’s breathing. Another one of these  _ things _ has draped Goro in its lap, and its hands move to frame his face, thumb caressing his clammy skin. It’s their leader, Goro thinks dully as the creature holds the crowd’s attention, taking its time stroking Goro’s hair back and away from his face and neck. He stomach lurches, and he attempts to shy away. The creature grips his jaw, stern and unrelenting. 

“You go first,” one of them hisses, and another bit of drool lands on Goro and prompts a shudder. 

The leader laughs, a low rumble that vibrates through Goro’s skull, and it leans down, unruly black hair obscuring his view. Lips press against his pulse first, and Goro jerks away once again. The crowd cackles like a pack of hyenas as they hold him down easily. The leader presses its tongue flat, and the skin numbs. Goro’s breaths come out fast and panicked, his body pushing against the claws feebly. 

Teeth sink in, and Goro freezes. His chest stills as the vampire sucks blood out, exchanging it with a venom that makes his eyes flutter and his limbs fall pliant. The leader pulls away with a gasp, undeniably with pleasure as it swallows and smacks its chops. 

As if they’ve gotten permission from the head of the table, the rest emit a roaring laughter and descend upon him. They pull his limbs this way and that, and Goro feels the burn of their fangs all in a rush. He cries out, and it does nothing to stop the slurping sounds, the flashes of pain and pleasure pulsating wherever their lips touch. Their sharp nails dig into his thighs, spreading him out as a couple of them pull away and move, nosing at his skin there before planting their fangs.

They all move about, making it impossible to keep track of them, and his head spins. He chokes out gasps and whimpers, broken as he loses feeling of his limbs being moved like he’s a puppet. He half-wonders what will kill him first –  the blood loss, or the venom leaking poison into his heart. It won’t be long either way, not with this many mouths on him. His hips jut in an aborted motion, and one of them pulls away with a giggle.

“He’s hard. Even like this.” Her small hand grips him, and he clenches his jaw to bite down a moan. “You’re only making your blood sweeter.”

He feels fangs disconnect from his forearm, letting it drop, and a pair of hands plant themselves on his chest, nails delicately scraping down his ribs before teasing his nipples. His hips jerk, fucking himself into the other vampire’s hand.

“It’s leaking,” she announces when a drop of pre hits his navel. His face burns with shame just as the bite marks burn his skin. Her sickly sweet voice grates on his ears, and he thrashes his head with little purpose. “Just like the rest of you.” The hands on his chest dig their claws in, scraping down and drawing more blood. He cries out, and she jerks him fast until he’s coming, back rising off the bed.

The pair of them latch themselves to his skin once more, and his body collapses with heaving breaths. His limbs jolt with hypersensitivity as the burn spreads, a pathetic whimper escaping him as his head lolls. The leader hushes him, its cool skin bringing a slim bit of relief as its hands continue petting him like a doting master. His face feels painted in flames, while his body loses all feeling. 

There’s a low hum in his ear, and a cool hand runs its fingers over his face. “Hush, Goro,” it whispers. “It will end soon.”

He whines at its words, squirming though his limbs are heavy, too heavy to truly make a difference. Claws dig into his thighs and shoulders to get him to halt, and he chokes at the sting. He knows they’ve drawn more blood, and there’s a wetness over the new cuts as the creatures lap up the blood. They bite down once more, creating new marks and leaving behind a residual burning.

Another pair of hands, larger and rough with callouses, skate by his navel and a huff of air hits his spent cock, causing his hips to jerk erratically. He wants to move away, his arms shaking with desperation, and they get pulled towards hungry mouths with such force that Goro fears they’ll literally tear him apart. Then a warm mouth wraps around him and he spasms with a shout –  it’s too much pain, too much stimulation, and he cries feebly. His face is damp with tears and perspiration, throat raw from his loud protestations.

The vampire continues licking at him, his fangs dragging as he goes like a threat, before he deep throats Goro and sucks, cheeks hollowing out. He stays there, not needing to come up for air, and Goro gives up, whimpering and coming weak spurts into the vampire’s mouth. He drinks it all, finally pulling away before sinking his teeth into soft flesh of Goro’s belly and taking blood from there too.

Goro’s mind is fading, vision hazy around the edges, and he can’t even feel the leader’s hands on his face anymore, although he can still hear its cruel whispers of reassurance. 

“Fucking shut up,” he manages to mumble, then one of the creatures lashes out, squeezing his neck threateningly. He wheezes, and the one above him interrupts its caressing to slap the hand away with a growl. His view becomes obscured as it leans over him, possessive. 

“Mine,” it hisses. “Don’t make me regret giving you a taste.”

“He’s fussy,” the other growls back.

“Loud as hell, too,” another pauses sucking at his thigh to add.

“Then leave.” Arms encircle him in a mockery of protection.

“We have more than paid our dues for this. He murdered our own twice over.”

“I’m aware of that. Have you forgotten that they have wronged me as well?”

The crowd encompassing him seems to back down with irritated growls, and his head lolls, clouded with a cottony haze. The vampire above him retreats as well, resumes its petting with the same gentleness as before. He leans into it before he can help it.

He can’t, he reasons with himself. He’s been taken, dragged into this hole underground, stripped naked and laid bare for these monsters to play with. To pick at, to tease, and to pull this way and that however they see fit like a tantalizing doll placed upon the dinner table.

His hips are raised up by one pair of hands while another reaches between his legs, fondling his sac before reaching his hole, fingers tracing the edge of it teasingly. He barely feels it, yet his breath is punched out of his lungs when one finger slides in all the way to the knuckle. The intrusion burns him similarly to the fangs digging into his flesh before they pull away, latching on to whatever left of him that has yet to be marked. The finger inside him pushes in and out before the vamp inserts a second one, stretching him with little finesse.

He doesn’t realize he’s somehow hard again until a fist squeezes his dick just on the shy side of painful, twisting and pulling. He vaguely registers he’s making noise by the vibrations in his throat, yet he feels like he’s underwater for what all he can actually hear.

The vamp with the fingers in his ass finds his sweet spot, and he pushes at it cruelly and relentlessly. His inhuman strength makes Goro’s whole being rock, and the drag of fangs and claws intensifies. The leader’s hands hold him steady, hushing him as he whines. His hips stutter and his legs shake, pushing into the mouths of his captures as their laughter gurgles around his blood. His body seizes up, coming undone by their hands once more and his hips are dropped unceremoniously. The fingers pull out of him fast, and nails scrape against the underside of his thigh.

Goro’s limbs tremble and his noises fade, with only his wheezing left to showcase the last of his strength, although he knows he’s losing it fast.

“No more playing,” the leader commands, although it hardly sounds authoritative. If anything, it sounds weary. “Take your fill and leave.”

Hands caress his neck, as if amending the harsh chokehold from earlier. He’s not sure if it had left a bruise, cannot feel much of anything now apart from cool fingers dancing all over his inflamed skin. If it weren’t for the wet, albeit muffled, slurping sounds in the room, he would have thought that they had all stopped feeding off of him. But no, his arms are lifted, moved, traded amongst different pairs of hands as they take their share of him. Others have their fangs digging into his thighs, and one has locked its jaw into his side, sharp nails scratching lightly over his chest and pulling at his skin.

The hands at his neck tilt his head up, tracing over his jawline. Breath fans over his face and he feels the vampire’s nose nudging his cheek, the warmth and tenderness a sharp contrast to the violent clenching of the others’ teeth and the numbness filling him.

The vampire whispers his name and presses its thumb near the corner of his eye, and he opens them with the revelation that they had slipped shut. The creature leans back and the corner of its mouth tilts up. He notices that it keeps its mouth closed. Its eyes are an unnaturally glowing yellow, and its stare is unwavering. He feels entranced by it, hypnotized by its deadly assessment.

It licks its lips while its thumb brushes against his cheek. He feels like a revered offering to the gods –  handled with care before being devoured by devotion. The monsters clawing at his body are dragging him to hell, but the creature above him promises him salvation.

The vampire presses even closer, burying its nose in the crook of his neck and inhaling, a bastardization of needing to breathe. He whines as its lips ghost over his pulse point, fluttering and growing weaker the more blood the creatures take from him. Its lips press against his throat with a lingering pause, leaving Goro squirming as much as he can with so many arms holding him down and tugging him in countless directions.

His vision is fading fast, tunneling into a single point and the rest cascades into black –  an abyss that Goro should be terrified of, should be fighting against, but it’s descending faster than he can comprehend. His eyes dance about rapidly, scrambling to find something to cling to as his life slips away, stolen from so many pairs of fangs to devour him whole. The vampire moves away from his neck, holding it in its cold hands, and the tunnel finds its face, staring into its golden eyes until the image burns into his retinas.

“Ren,” he gasps with what feels like his last breath, then his eyes are rolling back and his body sags, tension cutting loose like a puppet after its last show.

He’s still alive, albeit barely. There’s the sensation of his head still being held, fingers caressing his face. There’s a voice, dulled and far away, “That’s enough. Leave.”

More murmurs, though if Goro could break the surface, he’s sure the voices would be louder, hissing and screeching that would leave his ears ringing. Then, barely intelligible, “I said  _ leave. _ You’ve had plenty.”

One by one, his limbs fall to the bed, and the hyenas shrink away with full bellies. Each bite mark singes, his joints twitching from over stimulus as his body attempts to process the pain now that it’s been left alone, nevermind that the heart is already giving up.

Alone, the vampire moves to cradle his body in its arms, head tucked into its breast. Its hands are careful, as if they do not want to exacerbate his wounds. The poison pulses through his veins, and his lungs wheeze with the effort of keeping him alive. The creature hushes him and brushes his hair back, from where it was sticking to his clammy skin. Its cool lips press against the shell of his ear with a whisper, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’ll be alright.”

Arms squeeze around him, and he realizes that he’s shivering from a chill more powerful than the vampire’s touch. Despite his predicament, there’s a comfort he can’t help but take being held even by a monster like this. As if it’s heard his derogatory thoughts, the vampire sighs and hoists him closer, noses nearly touching. It nuzzles him once more, and it makes Goro’s stomach churn more than when the others were toying with him while sucking him dry. He’d rather the creature play with its food than mock him with affection.

Then its lips brush his own, so lightly that Goro almost thinks he’s imagined it, mind becoming delusional as it slowly shuts down. When the vampire speaks, it sounds like it has moved away to look at him properly, “Goro. I can’t let you go.”

Goro twitches as he slowly processes its words. He knew the group of vampires never intended to let him escape once they captured him. He might have been able to if he had been alone with one of them from the start, but with all of them descending upon him at once, there had been no hope for him. A quick, excruciating death had been in store, until Ren banished the others to finish him off alone, yet he hesitates.

He expected the vampires to kill him. He didn’t expect the cruelty of kindness and compassion from Ren before they did it.

He thinks he tries to speak, to ask Ren why. Why hasn’t he killed him yet, why is he torturing him? Why did he ever approach Goro at the tavern? Why did he do so night after night, building up trust until they were intimate? The memory of Ren’s body against his when they would hide in the alley behind Leblanc causes his chest to hiccup and he swallows thickly. He opens his eyes and looks at Ren with a plea, unable to voice any of his thoughts.

Ren looks back at him with a pitying expression, and he cups Goro’s cheek. “No, I cannot.”

His hand moves to under Goro’s chin, tilting it up and leaving his neck exposed and vulnerable. Goro’s breathing hitches, and his chest heaves with panicked breaths as he anticipates the killing blow.

Ren’s hand moves to the back of his head to support him, and he feels the long nails running through his hair. The other lifts to be close to Ren’s mouth, which opens to reveal his glistening sharp teeth. Goro swallows audibly at the sight of them, and Ren’s eyes dart to his jugular. The lamb lies still, trapped and impaired while the wolf prepares to strike. 

Then Ren is turning his head away with an unnatural quickness, sinking his teeth into the vein of his own wrist. Goro’s head is spinning with delirium, and he watches sluggishly as Ren’s fangs drag before pulling away sharply, revealing a new cut welling up with blood. Ren turns back to him, licking his lips to clean them off and rendering Goro hopelessly mesmerized. Distracted, he hardly registers Ren pressing his wrist against Goro’s mouth until the blood smears and he instinctually laps at it with his tongue –  a mimicry of Ren’s hypnotizing movements.

Something in him jolts. His limbs spasm and an arm tightens around him to hold him steady. His own arms move to cling to Ren’s wrist, pulling it closer to his face and he drinks Ren’s blood greedily. As if his strength is being restored, he pulls himself up, keeping a firm grasp on Ren’s arm. Ren doesn’t seem bothered, keeping a hold on Goro and pulling him closer. With an animalistic desire for  _ more _ , Goro clenches his teeth into Ren’s skin to squeeze and consume more.

He faintly feels Ren kiss the top of his head, letting it linger as an encouragement to keep drinking, and Goro huffs through his nose with a strong breath. 

When Ren pulls his wrist away, an involuntary growl tears itself from Goro’s throat. He lashes his arms out to grab it back, but Ren catches both with ease, pulling Goro closer to him once more. Ren’s golden eyes are calming whereas Goro feels wild and unhinged, wide eyed and breathing in deep yet too frequently. Ren keeps them both still until Goro’s breaths slow, and he carefully moves one hand to grasp Goro’s while the other moves to wipe blood off of his chin.

“ ** _Rest_ ** ,” Ren commands with a low murmur, but it reverberates in Goro’s head like a bell tower’s chime. When he remains frozen in place, Ren tugs him in, wrapping him up in an embrace.

“Rest.”  
  


* * *

Goro shoots up in pitch black darkness. His head whips as he scans his surroundings, but there’s nothing except stony walls closing him in. Shaking hands clutch at soft material beneath him, a futon with a blanket draped over it, pillows stacked behind him. They’re too nondescript to discern if they’re from the bed he was on before or if they’re new to his senses. It’s of very little circumstance either way.

He turns his attention to the wooden ceiling, past it and to the footsteps and murmurs above him. It appears that he has been placed underground, in a cellar or a makeshift hiding place. His eyes find groves in the ceiling where it would open up, but no handle. It doesn’t open from this side.

He’ll make it open, he decides, and his body lunges at the door, hands and feet digging in to keep him in place. He hangs like a bat while he claws at the wood, feeling it splintering and drawing blood. His nostrils flare at the smell of it and he stops, eyes narrowing as he watches a red trail form from his nails down his arm.

The ceiling rattles and he blinks the hyperfixation away, watching the groves give and the door begin to move. With a slit of warm light filtering in, he barely makes out scars in the wood, long claw marks like the ones he’s just left, before the doors swings down with such a ferocity that he’s knocked back to the bedding beneath him. 

With his teeth bared in a snarl, he whips his head up to meet eyes with whoever he must attack to escape, but his vision swims at the brightness coming from the floor above. Even squinting doesn’t allow him to bare it, and he buries his head into the bedding beside him with a hiss.

He hears more murmurs, disdainful in their tone before there’s a rush of air and a thump of a body landing beside him. He shrinks back, and the door swings shut to plunge the hole back into darkness.

The newcomer says nothing, doesn’t move, and Goro’s body cautiously uncurls. His eyes open slowly with a confirmation that he can once more perceive his surroundings, and he turns to see who has joined him.

“Hello, lover,” Ren says, face pulled serious with a deep frown and furrowed brows.

Goro immediately charges, throwing his body at Ren and knocking him back. With his fingers locked like daggers, he lashes wildy at Ren’s neck, his eyes, his cheeks. Despite his unpredictability, moving with such a quickness that even frightens himself, Ren stops his attacks by grabbing his wrists, holding him back and keeping his face just perfectly out of range. His face remains stoic while Goro’s contorts with a rage that leaves him burning and shaking.

“You’ll do well to realize that you are incapable of gaining the upper hand here,” Ren scolds through gritted teeth, as if Goro is a child throwing a tantrum.

Goro growls and lashes in Ren’s hold, “It will be satisfying enough to leave a mark.”

Ren smirks, “We’ve left plenty of marks on each other before.”

Goro yells with fury, kicking his legs and twisting his wrists, unsuccessful in breaking Ren’s hold of him. Ren seems to have had enough, huffing through his nose before tossing Goro to the other end of the hole and sitting up. Goro’s back hits the wall with a loud thump, and he takes but a moment before he moves to lunge at Ren once more.

“ ** _Stop_ ** ,” Ren commands, and it reverberates. Goro whimpers and hangs his head, body shaking as he does everything in his power to break Ren’s compelling hold over him. “Just stop,” he whispers, sounding almost desperate.

Goro’s fingers dig in the bedding and the fabric gives, the tearing satisfying to his ears. He forces his head up and glares at Ren, anger beyond words. He looks back at him with sad, grey eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Goro feels like throwing up, and his lip curls. Instead, he spits, “You’re  _ sorry _ ? You hurt me, violated me, and humiliated me, and you let all of your lackeys in on the fun like I was a piece of  _ meat. _ ” Ren’s shoulders sink at his words as if he’s ashamed, and Goro’s face twists in cruel laughter. “And that wasn’t enough for you. You didn’t even let them kill me. You had to  _ turn  _ me into one of you.” 

Saying it, acknowledging it, feels like acid on Goro’s tongue. His heart sinks with despair, his body sags in defeat. He looks at Ren with all the hatred he has to muster, but the wetness in his throat and his eyes betray him. “You’ve evoked the cruelest fate onto me, cursing me to damnation.”

Ren’s head, having hung low in shame, rises slowly and he meets his eyes. Goro feels chilled to the bone by that gaze, and he holds it. “Let me explain-”

Goro sneers, “You think any amount of explanation could-”

“ ** _Listen_ ** .”

He feels his jaw clamp shut, and he glares at Ren before turning his head to stare at the stone wall. If he’s being forced to hear Ren out, it doesn’t mean he has to look at them.

Ren heaves a heavy sigh before he starts again. “They –  We’ve never fed like that before. We’ve never even fed from a human before. They’re all angry at me the same as you. Nothing went according to plan. But the hunger –  we waited too long to feed, it grew too strong. We lost control. They feel awful about what they did.”

“And that makes it all better,” Goro hisses.

“ _ No _ . But it’s my job to take care of them, and I failed them. I let them do as they please, and they resent me for it. You weren’t supposed to-”

“What?  _ Survive _ ?” Goro scoffs at himself, catching his mistake. “Or rather, have the capacity to tell the tale. Let’s not kid ourselves,  _ lover _ ,” he spits at him, marvelling in Ren’s wounded look, “They wanted their revenge. They reveled in their torture, their games. They had  _ fun _ . Don’t try and pretend any of you monsters feel remorse.”

Ren huffs with frustration. “Two of my girls, you killed their sires. The ones who turned them. You’ve severed the strongest of bonds our people can experience.” His eyes glint staring Goro down, and Goro feels something twist in him, something that makes him want to submit. A heady pressure pushes on his shoulders and he grimaces, lowering his body and making himself small. 

The pressure dissipates, and Ren sighs. “And then Father Shido arranged for a lockdown of the city for his perverse little witch hunt. Because the two of us you killed just wasn’t enough for him. We couldn’t go out and feed like we used to, lest we’d put ourselves under unnecessary risk. We were driven into a corner. 

“Yes, they wanted their revenge. I, too, was vilified and wanted justice. But I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Goro rises up, straightening his spine and staring down at Ren. “You didn’t mean to approach me at Leblanc, to do so every night until I trusted you, became intimate with you, all so you and your lot could drag me into a hole to fuck me senseless and kill me slowly?”

“Like I said,” Ren growls, and Goro feels smug about inducing the reaction. “I let the hunger get the best of us. You let the hunger get too strong, and you lose control.”

“Thanks for ruining my life because of your lack of restraint.”

Ren has the audacity to hiss, “Yes, because you truly planned on growing old and gray.” When Goro stares at him, betrayed, Ren rolls his eyes. “You have to know. All hunters die young. And besides that-”

“Don’t you dare claim that this is some saving grace!” Goro shouts, gesturing at himself. There’s a silence ringing in his ears, and Goro never thought he could miss his rapidly beating heart. He misses the pain of anxiety squeezing his lungs, the one that always left him wheezing and wondering if he’d ever breathe easy again. It feels deeply unnatural and unnerving how still his body is. He starts wringing his hands together for the sake of movement.

“And besides that,” Ren repeats, louder, “You’re not the first man amongst Shido’s crowd to suddenly disappear.” His mouth twists, almost in a snarl. “Did you know that the last vamp you killed worked for him?”

Goro’s hands pause, and he looks up at Ren, skeptical. “Okumura?”

Ren nods once. “He was selling information in exchange for his own safety, not even caring about his charge, my girl Haru. We were handling it ourselves before he must’ve done something to piss Shido off and you were sent to kill him. There’s no doubt that Shido has more of us he’s blackmailing or holding hostage for his own benefit. And there’s no doubt that he considers  _ all  _ of his men expendable.”

Ren must see something akin to uncertainty on Goro’s face, and he softens his own anger to murmur, “I think you and I both know your father never intended to let you live for long.”

Goro hates the way Ren emphasizes  _ father _ . He hates the way it reminds him of their whispered conversations in the foolishly perceived safety of Leblanc. Lit by candlelight, Goro’s lips loosened from alcohol, he spilled so many secrets to Ren. How he blackmailed the town priest into fame with the sheer power of his own existence, how he followed Shido’s intel to find countless vamp nests and slain so many monsters ‘in the name of the Lord.’ How he had felt righteous until the screams –  so hauntingly human-like –  plagued his mind and drove him to drinking.

Ren had listened to everything intently, his eyes wide and sympathetic. Goro could never bear to meet his gaze for long, overwhelmed by the strong emotions he would see. He was taught to be reserved, secretive with his feelings while Ren flaunted them proudly without losing even the slightest bit of grace.

Goro was enamored with him. Something purely physical wouldn’t hurt, he had reassured himself whenever he would drag Ren to the back alley, when he would pin Ren against the wall and rut against him. Goro never felt Ren’s lips, and he never dared to touch him with anything but his hands. 

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you ignored my comment about Leblanc,” Goro says, leering at Ren. “Surely, you intentionally had ulterior motives then.”

Ren looks back at him, considering, before shaking his head. “Fine. Yes, I did.” Goro resents the lump that forms in his throat, hates that he feels worse at that notion than what the group of vampires did to him last night. “But please don’t be mistaken. I developed feelings for you the same you did for me. And that was unintentional, but precious to me all the same.”

Goro snarls, “You have a dead heart in your cold chest –  you are incapable of feeling.”

Ren gives him a once-over, taking in his face’s unbridled contempt and his hands’ nervous movements, before meeting his eyes. “You know that’s not true.”

“Then you have a cruel way of showing your love,” Goro spits, voice wavering. “I hope you’re telling the truth now, because you’re stuck with me.” He says it with contempt, although he’s sure Ren can see the honesty behind it. His ability to lie and deceive must have died with him, to Goro’s chagrin. “Or will your lackeys want to finish the job?”

“N-no,” Ren hesitates, brows furrowing. “They are completely prepared to welcome you to the family. No one enters this life gracefully, so we do our best to ease the transition for each other.”

Goro crosses his arms, turning his head to the ceiling. He doesn’t fully buy it, but he supposes he can’t do anything about it either way. He jolts when Ren grabs his wrist, gentle and slow and certainly not holding him down. Goro chooses to not pull away, but he gives him a nasty look.

“I’m more surprised that  _ you _ are willing to stay,” Ren says, searching for the answer in Goro’s eyes. Goro wills himself to be still and blank-faced.

“As you said, I don’t have any options,” he answers. “Father Shido will certainly not stand for what I am now. And I’ve never been one for giving up.”

Ren smiles, tentative, “I’m glad. I want you here, with me.”

“Well, you’d probably just force me to stay if I refused,” Goro retorts, although his tone betrays that he has little fight left in him. There’s an ache in his stomach that he is refusing to think about, despite its threats to overpower him. 

Ren gulps like his words are still a gut-punch. “I wouldn’t. It’d be difficult, due to the bond we now share, but it’s doable. If that’s truly what you want, I won’t stop you from leaving.”

“How irresponsible,” Goro mutters. “There’s nothing more dangerous than a newborn.” Goro’s body tenses, picturing himself running wild and untamed, attacking anything with a pulse, tearing the living apart with his bare hands until they were a pile of flesh and detritus. Something in him pulses with excitement, to his horror, and he clenches his eyes shut to drive the image away.

Ren, still holding his wrist, begins to run his thumb over where his pulse once was. “You need to feed.”

“ _ No _ ,” he protests, his body shaking with pure want. He tries to pull away from Ren, who tightens his grip and pulls him closer.

“You can take my blood. It’d satisfy you more than anything else anyway,” Ren says. Goro keeps his eyes shut, but he lets Ren drag him, lets their shoulders press together. There’s something inherently comforting in Ren’s presence, and Goro lets it ease the frenzy in his mind. “Come on, here.”

There’s skin pressed against his lips, Ren’s wrist –  maybe even the same one as last night. Goro pants hotly on it before his tongue laps at where he wants to bite. It’s all instinctual, he realizes with a cold dread, and it feels like his body is moving beyond his control when sharp fangs bite down on Ren’s wrist, and blood floods his mouth. He takes large gulps, the sounds of it echoing against the stone walls, and it makes him gag, yet he keeps swallowing.

The blood isn’t warm ,  Goro doesn’t know why he’d expect it to be. The temperature should disturb him, but it feels more like chilled water on an unbearably hot day in its refreshness. It calms the monster inside him,  _ the hunger _ , as Ren calls it, and he blinks back into awareness. Ren doesn’t pull away, just rubs a hand down Goro’s side, and Goro doesn’t know how long he’d let Goro take from him.

He considers taking Ren for all he’s got, and he wonders if that’d kill him. But once the thought enters his mind, the desire dissipates and he pulls away, pushing at Ren’s wrist. Ren’s clan would rip Goro to shreds in mere moments, and whatever constitutes as his heart  _ aches _ at the thought of losing him. Although he’d like to deny it, Goro knows that’s not all due to Ren being his sire.

Ren lays his wrist in his lap, and Goro watches as the bite mark he left fades as if it was never there in the first place. He takes a gander at his own arms, covered in nasty bruises, but the imprints of teeth have somewhat healed. 

“By nightfall, it will all have faded,” Ren says. His arm around Goro squeezes, and he inches his face close to Goro’s, nuzzling his cheek. He seems at peace, an anxiety settled and a purpose fulfilled from taking care of his charge.

“My memory won’t,” Goro counters, voice bitter, and he pulls himself out of Ren’s arms. “I’m staying because it’s the most reasonable option, not because I have forgiven you.”

Ren folds his hands in his lap, as if Goro doesn’t see his wounded expression before he composes himself. “I understand. My family and I will see to your needs as best as we can until you’ve adjusted. And when you feel comfortable enough to be on your own, we will not prevent you from leaving. I swear it.”

“And if I never forgive you?” Goro challenges.

Ren looks pained, but he answers, “I will understand, and I will let you go.”

Goro nods, slowly. He gestures to the door above them, “May I leave?”

“Of course.” Ren jumps and grabs hold of the ceiling, hanging with one hand and knocking on it with the other. He lands back down next to Goro, and the door swings open not long after. There are two blondes, a man and a woman, peering overhead, and Ren gives them a definitive nods. “We’re both coming up.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” The man asks.

“He won’t do any harm. He’s been fed as well,” Ren reassures, and he stands up, reaching a hand down to help Goro up. Goro ignores him, keeping his eyes on the two vampires above. The woman is staring him down, head tilted with a pensive look.

“Ann?” The man next to her nudges her shoulder. “What do you think?”

“It’s okay,” she answers. “Let’s give him space.”

With that, the two move away and out of sight. Ren turns to Goro, keeping his hand extended to him. In an act of defiance, Goro uses the wall behind him to push himself up, raising a daring eyebrow at his sire. Ren huffs, fond, and drops his arm to his side.

“I’ll go up first,” Ren says, bending his knees and launching himself up with inhuman grace. He grants Goro the space the woman suggested, slinking away once he’s out as well.

Goro feels his body tense. There’s still too much for him to process, to even try to comprehend. He’s had half the world, the one creeping in the shadows, against him as a hunter and he doesn’t expect the sudden change to comradiere that Ren seems to be so sure about. And now his father doesn’t need to have an excuse to have him killed. The whole town will surely be out for his head, and the sun that used to warm his skin will see him turned to nothing but ashes. For the first time since childhood, Goro finds that he can’t even cling to a lie to hide how  _ alone _ he is in this world.

He runs his tongue over his teeth, their pointed ends digging into the flesh, and he can still taste Ren’s blood. It sits thick and heavy on his palate like red wine, and his throat bobs as he swallows with want. He feels as if there’s a gravitated force pulling at him, urging him up and closer to his sire. He sucks in air through his nose, distinctly does not feel it fill his lungs, before he moves to crawl out of his grave.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @cookietosser


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